The Old ‘GTA 6 Could Be $100’ Comet Has Circled Back Around – Forbes
GTA 6A take has returned earth’s orbit, circling back around before heading back into irrelevance in the as it leaves the solar system again. It’s the idea that when GTA 6 arrives it should or even could be $100, as opposed to the new standard of $70.This idea comes from a 200+ slide presentation from entertainment industry analyst Matthew Ball that is actually a decent flip-through in terms of the industry issues it presents, and there are plenty. But the slideshow ends on the $100 GTA 6 pricing note, which sort of loses the plot. Here’s Ball:“Some gamemakers hope GTA 6 will be priced at $80-100, breaking the $70 barrier and helping $50 titles move up to $60, $60 to $70, $70 to $80.” He goes on to talk about how due to inflation, GTA 6 at $70 will be the “cheapest” entry in the series in relative terms, and how this whole pricing issue is turning into a back-breaking industry problem.That does not mean a $10-30 price increase would help, of course.Video games cost around $50 back in the early 2000s, increasing to $60 in the mid-2000s. Then in 2020 when the industry was booming during the pandemic, the standard for most AAA games rose to $70.Black Ops 6Sure, if there is a game that could get away with a $100 base price, it might be GTA 6, but it seems unlikely for this to happen, nor should it happen in the wider industry for a number of reasons.Even some devs are publicly not buying this idea. Here’s Larian’s Michael Douse on the idea (Larian being the developer of 2023 GOTY Baldur’s Gate 3, which launched at $60 on Steam):“The conventional logic is that “players are not as price sensitive as people think,” Douse saids. “but this applies to 40-60 (they say it doesn’t make a difference). Leaping to $100 when quality can’t be trusted would be suicide, especially with the decline of marketing avenues.”And on the suggestion that some publishers (like Rockstar) could get away with that price:“You’re 100% right, but so few that the blanket argument that games need to be $100 now due to inflation, doesn’t make sense.”I do not see GTA 6 being above $70 outside of special additions and no doubt GTA Online subscriptions along with its massive host of microtransactions. Just because this one game could doesn’t mean it should, nor does it have wider industry applications at the present moment.Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts. Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site’s Terms of Service. We’ve summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:So, how can you be a power user?Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site’s Terms of Service.
